By now, Google is no stranger to NFC technology. After announcing their new mobile wallet – a mobile application that can be used for payments – earlier this year, the company has been keen to expand its use of the technology. Google recently launched into the domain of social networking with Google+, a social platform that aims to dethrone Facebook as ruler of the vast social networking empire. While Google’s wallet and social site seem disconnected, the company has plans to integrate NFC into their Google+ platform.
To date, NFC technology has garnered most of its popularity from its applications to the field of mobile commerce. The technology allows for contactless payments from either a card or, as the current trend would dictate, a smart phone. In this way, NFC is leading the way toward an electronic economy with little to no need for physical currency. This use of the technology is becoming increasingly common, but Google may have plans to return to the roots of NFC, which are firmly in marketing territory.
Before NFC became the champion of mobile commerce, it was used by advertisers to catch the interest of tech-savvy consumers. While ads featuring NFC tags have been met with modest success given the technology’s relative youth, advertisers have been able to track the performance of their tags and obtain some valuable information on consumers. Google will take advantage of this as well.
The majority of mobile consumers will have their Google+ account linked, in some way, to their mobile wallet. Their activity will not be displayed for all to see, but Google will be able to gain valuable marketing information from their spending habits and routines. Doing this, Google will be able to guide advertisers toward making ads that are more appealing to specific people.
